JRoll sends Phils to 3rd straight walk-off win in extras

Most headlines will read something about the Phillies winning yet another walk-off in extra innings. In fact it was their 3rd consecutive walk-off win in extras. That is a club record for Philadelphia. The Phillies can now send Cole Hamels to the hill tomorrow and try to sweep the Reds and head into the All-Star break on a four game winning streak.

But before this game went into extras, the story line was the battle between Roy Halladay and Reds rookie pitcher Travis Wood. Wood took a perfect game into the ninth inning in just his third big league start. Fittingly enough, Halladay took one into the ninth in just his second start of his big league career.

Luckily for the Phillies, Halladay was just about as perfect on this night as well. Doc went the full nine innings giving up only five hits while striking out nine. Halladay’s lowered his ERA to 2.19 which is 4th in the majors.

Not much to say, again, about the offense. The Phillies didn’t record a hit until the 9th inning when Carlos Ruiz hit the first of his two doubles to lead off the inning. Ruiz could not advance as Wilson Valdez, Raul Ibanez and Jimmy Rollins all popped out to send the game into extras.

The next time Ruiz doubled, in the 11th, Rollins made sure it was not wasted. His single was only the 4th hit of the game for the Phils but scored Ruiz for the only run of the entire game. It was the only run the Phillies needed. It was Rollin’s second walk-off hit this season. The only two if his career.

Worth noting: With Howard’s 2 RBIs last night, he is now tied with the Mets David Wright for tops in the NL with 65. Jayson Werth had the other hit for the Phillies who are still five and a half games behind the Braves in the division. With a win tomorrow paired with a Mets loss, the Phillies will move into second.

Welcome back, Chooch! Coming up in the 11th and saying “Alright, boys, let’s try this again. I’ll hit another double, and this time don’t screw it up.” Awesome.

Wilson Valdez makes me sad. As soon as he popped up that bunt attempt, everyone around us said they were just glad he hadn’t found a way to bunt into a double play. To be fair to Ibanez, he didn’t “pop out” – he slammed a liner to the warning track (or thereabouts) that would have sacrificed Ruiz home if Valdez had laid down a simple bunt.

Brad Lidge needs to get it through his head that you can’t get outs if you don’t throw strikes. That was painful to watch.

Still, a thrilling win in the end! Halladay was dominant, and Chooch came back in a big way (it’s very possible that his return helped Halladay in his dominance). A good night all around.

Just got back from the game. Possibly the most bizarre game I have ever been to. Amazing pitching, top of the line defense by both teams. It was two heavyweights giving it their all and just making no progress.

The atmosphere at the stadium was insane. It was seriously like a playoff game. Everybody in the stadium was fired up, and expecting the Phillies to win. First time since opening day that I have felt that electricity.

Great to have Chooch back. Let’s just focus on the positives for now and look for the sweep tomorrow.

I too just got back from the game, going again tomorrow, it was a stressfull one. Lidge needs to locate his fastball to be effective, it was 93 94, and he did get the outs when he needed too. Hopefully the offense is saving the big innings for tomorrow so Cole can get an easy 7-3 win. I do not know who this Wood’s guy is, but he was real good tonight, wicked change up, the ump did have a big zone early, but consistantly big which help. Another good win for the Phils lets get the brooms out tomorrow

Indeed welcome backl Chooch! 2 doubles in the Walk-off, and 1 double in the 1-0 win in the final game of the series! Neither games are really something to be proud of overall, all it proves is the same as many of the Starting Pitchers loses in the last 10 weeks. The Offense has been an remains asleep overall. The difference in, the Pitching staff COMPLETELY shut down the opposing team for 0 runs. In other games similar, the pitchers gave up 2-3 runs, and the offense scored 0-1. I am also not crazy about the fact that a ROOKIE had a perfect game through 8 innings, and it wasnt until Chooch broke that up with a double. Not just a no-hitter, but a Perfect Game. Thank god Halladay was pitching that game, and Hamels was pitching the last game. If anyone else was pitching it more than likely would have been a loss. They MUST score more than 1 run a game!